»»----> You awoke earlier than expected. You had a headache, but for no apparent reason.
You looked around, realizing you were still on Inhyuk's couch, with Jiyoung and him both asleep next to you. You carefully got up, retrieved your belongings, and went back to your apartment.
Your dog was really happy to see you come back. You fed him a treat for being good, and fed him his regular food.
You remember you had work in a couple hours, so you ate breakfast and relaxed for a little while before heading to the association.
You finished cleaning the dishes from breakfast, and got dressed for work. You gave your dog one last treat and left to go to the Shinhwa association.
When you got there, Inhyuk and Jiyoung were on the first floor, talking to Jisuk.
"Good morning, everyone." You smiled.
"Hey, Y/N." Jisuk gave you a quick wave before looking at his older sister again.
"Sorry, Jisuk is being rude and.." Jiyoung sighed. "You get the idea."
"He's a teenager, that's expected of most teenagers. Although, Jisuk is especially rude."
"True." Jiyoung agreed, eventually walking off to her office to most likely fill out paperwork.
"Y/N, you have a lot of applications to go through today." Inhyuk stated. "I left them in your office."
"Alright, I'll head over." You waved, getting into the elevator to go to your office.
You had been lucky enough to get your own office. You had sort of shared ownership over it with Inhyuk, but it said your name on the desk and the door.
You had also taken the time to decorate with a few low-maintenance plants, and a painting you got for 50% off.
You sat down at your desk, straightening a pot on it, and looking at the pile of job applications.
The first one was a definite no. They had a very messy layout, no work experience whatsoever, weren't awakened, and wanted to apply for a high rank.
You put that one to the side, beginning piles of no, yes, and maybe. That one fit right into the pile of rejected applications.
The next application had a nice enough format, but hardly any information. You put it into the maybe pile.
After that one, you looked at yet another messy application. This one was messy, but was also in a language you couldn't read. You put it into the no pile.
You went through about 30 or so applications, all but one going into no or maybe, as Shinhwa had high standards for all it's employees.
You got up from your desk once you finished the pile, and went to Jiyoung's office to see what else needed to be finished today.
"Today Jisuk and Jiwoo are sparring, so I need you to take Inhyuk's place in a meeting with me." She informed.
"I can do that. How much time before the meeting?"
"About an hour, and the place we're meeting is about 30 minutes away. I propose we leave in around 15 minutes."
"We aren't presenting anything, are we?" You sat down in front of her desk.
"Don't worry, we aren't." She reassured. "Only listening to other speakers, and occasionally voting on things, but you don't have to vote."
You and Jiyoung made small talk for a little while before making your way to the parking lot to head to the meeting place.
The meeting place was a tall building, presumably an office. It had reserved parking spaces for different associations.
"This is where the associations in this area of Korea have meetings." She explained. "On the rare occasion it's every or almost every association in Korea, we meet here as well."
"Good to know."
You looked around the lobby, seeing a few recognizable awakened ones. You sat down next to Jiyoung, tapping your foot out of boredom.
Everyone began walking to the left of the building, so you and Jiyoung did the same. They all walked into a room with a long table, and each of their names were on the table next to a chair.
You sat in Inhyuk's spot, and looked around. Most association's had two people as representatives, while others only had one. There were 2 empty seats on your right.
The room was silent, until a man with pink hair and a mask pulled down below his chin spoke.
"Thank you all for coming, this meeting is in regards to the upcoming 2nd annual Awakened Academy. We will continue including Unaffiliated youth, as we voted on doing so in the last meeting, exactly two weeks ago from today." He stated.
"Now then, does someone have ideas, or thoughts to add before we get started?"
There was complete silence, so he spoke up again. "Because of an increase in budget, we may include more instructors, or more students. In addition to this, we also have the option to take the students on a fun trip at the end of the Academy's semester."
Everyone nodded, speaking amongst themselves about what they wanted to do.
"Now, we will count votes. All in favor of more instructors, please raise your hand." He looked around, before writing down the amount of people who raised their hands.
"All in favor of more students, please raise your hand." He looked around the room again, writing down more votes.
"All in favor of a trip for the students, please raise your hand." He counted the votes.
"Finally, if you obstain, please raise your hand." A few hands raised, and he counted those as well.
"Thank you, it seems the trip has won, with one vote more than the more students option." He informed everyone.
"Next meeting, set for two weeks from today, we will plan the trip for the students."
"Now it's the representative of Mir to speak on courses for the unaffiliated students." He pointed to a lady with blonde hair and orange tips.
She spoke on about the courses, and how there should not be such a gap between the unaffiliated and affiliated students classes. This earned a few whispers, and groans. You zoned out, thinking about other things.
"You are dismissed." The Halla representative said, standing up and grabbing his papers.
"Wow, we didn't even do anything." You yawned. "By the way, why was the representative of Halla leading the meeting?"
"They were the ones who contributed extra money." She explained. "And so we let their representative lead the meeting."
"Okay, that makes sense." You got into the car. "By the way, which one did you vote for?"
"I voted on the trip. All the students work so hard, they deserve a reward for their effort, especially for the unaffiliated who aren't treated the same."
"I didn't vote, because I wasn't really supposed to be there in the first place." You laughed a bit. "Besides, they're all decent enough options."
"I agree."
The car ride back to the Shinhwa association was silent, but not an uncomfortable or awkward one. Both you and Jiyoung were thinking about things.
"Let's go see if the sparring match is over with." You grabbed her hand, running to the sparring room.
It seems the match was finished, as everyone was sitting on the benches.
You ran over to Jiwoo to ask about the match. "Who won?"
"I did!" He grinned widely, despite his wounds. "I'm getting better and better at this."
"That's fantastic!" You smiled, patting him on the head. "I'm proud of you."
You sat down next to the fat orange cat on the bench, poking his fat. "Hey, Kayden. Good job on being a good teacher."
He hissed, chewing on a toy. "Heard you went to a meeting."
"Mhm." You nodded. "It was about the awakened academy coming up. We were voting on what we should spend money on."
"What were your options?"
"More teachers, more students, or a trip for the students at the end of the semester." You whispered. "The trip won, but don't tell Jiwoo just in case it's a surprise."
"Where's the trip taking place? Or have you not decided on it?"
"We're voting on it next meeting, but I won't be there next meeting because I was only there to replace Inhyuk." You explained.
"You should probably tell Inhyuk what he missed."
"Good idea." You stood up, poking the fat cat's body once more.
"Hi, Inhyuk." You smiled. "I took your place in the meeting today. We were voting on what to spend extra money on for the awakened academy. A trip for the students ended up winning. Next meeting you'll vote on where it will be."
"Thank you for explaining what I missed." A smile crept onto his face. "Too bad you weren't here to watch Jiwoo and Jisuk spar. It was intense. Jiwoo ended up winning."
"He told me. He's pretty strong, I've noticed. He picks up new skills and tricks quickly. Jiwoo reminds me a lot of Kayden."
"Makes sense." He laughed. "But yeah, he's really good at analyzing a situation and deciding what to really quick as well. All good traits for an awakened one."
"I wonder if he has any awakened family members that he just isn't aware of. My aunt is awakened, I didn't know until about two years ago."
"From what he's told us, he's the only awakened one in his family, but that's only what he's aware of." Inhyuk replied.
You stood in silence for a bit. "I'm going to um, head back over to talk to Kayden again."
"Alright. See you later." He waved.
"I told him." You sat back down next to Kayden.
"Good, now I have something I need to tell you." He turned into a human, and grabbed your hand, leading you outside the building.
"Is it a secret?" You asked, and he nodded.
"Only for now. I haven't told Jiwoo yet but.." He sighed.
"I'm leaving Korea."
"What? How come?" You furrowed your eyebrows.
"I'm getting targetted more and more, and people know about us being together. I'm not necessarily worried for your safety, because you could probably beat me up with ease, but it's more about Jiwoo's safety."
"Well, we'll miss you." You frowned, pulling him into a hug. "When's your last day?"
"I'm not sure yet, but I want to leave within a month." He kissed the top of your head. "I'll come back eventually, don't worry."
He embraced you for a while, before speaking again. "I love you a lot, Y/N. Don't forget."